How different would things be today

[Win4AU 4,055]

If Auburn had hired Steele instead of Harsin? 
 

Recruiting - I gotta believe Steele would have been far superior in this field which isn’t saying much.

Record - no way to say for sure.  2021 could have gone the same way.  2022 probably would have been a little better with actual recruiting and transfers.

Even if things had turned out the same and Freeze came in this year to take over you’d more than likely be looking at a stronger roster.  
 

I guess in the end it was also important for Auburn to fall on its face to make a lot of the necessary changes that needed to be made through the whole organization.

[AUinMS9528 1,086]

11 minutes ago, Win4AU said:

I guess in the end it was also important for Auburn to fall on its face to make a lot of the necessary changes that needed to be made through the whole organization.

This!!!

If we had hired Steele, I’m sure he would still be here for another year or two.   It would be bad, but not Harsin level bad.   
 

The best scenario would’ve been for everyone to get behind a really great hire 2 years ago, and we could be 2 years ahead of where we are now.   
But the second best scenario probably was the catastrophic disaster that was Harsin, so that everyone fully supported Freeze from day 1, and we’re well on our way to being among the top programs in college football.   

[W.E.D 11,070]

We'd be in a stagnant space of 8-4 with little to no hope.

He's been a HC before and was HORRIBLE.

[cole256 17,084]

I just don't see why people think Steele is so awesome personally

[DAG 34,093]

20 minutes ago, cole256 said:

I just don't see why people think Steele is so awesome personally

Like Harsin at Boise, he really benefited from Will Muschamp being here previously to set the tone and structure.

[cole256 17,084]

9 minutes ago, DAG said:

Like Harsin at Boise, he really benefited from Will Muschamp being here previously to set the tone and structure.

That's 100% what I feel and what I've always said. Muschamp identified and recruited 95% of the super talented players. Imo the further away we got away from his players the worse the defenses got. 

Like how people did all that complaining about blitzing and stuff? Steele didn't blitz and stuff. He just always had studs on the d line

[gr82be 14,564]

Thank goodness we didn't. Hiring Harsin may have turned out to be the best thing A Greene did for us. If that's what it took for everyone to get headed in the same direction I'm glad we did it in hindsight. Steele would have recruited at least. 

[GreenTiger 1,008]

The only realistic outcome I can see if Steele would have been hired is he would still be here producing average results. No thanks! 

[Gowebb11 9,529]

2 hours ago, cole256 said:

That's 100% what I feel and what I've always said. Muschamp identified and recruited 95% of the super talented players. Imo the further away we got away from his players the worse the defenses got. 

Like how people did all that complaining about blitzing and stuff? Steele didn't blitz and stuff. He just always had studs on the d line

I agree with the Muschamp part but on the other hand, how much better could we have been on defense if our offense had a pulse during the KS years? The best example was the LSU game Burrows senior year. Our D played well enough to win but our O was terrible. 

[NWALA Tiger 3,536]

Steele is like most other coaches.  Give him good players he will produce results. His productivity tailed off when Brown and Davidson left

[Tigerpro2a 5,650]

11 hours ago, DAG said:

Like Harsin at Boise, he really benefited from Will Muschamp being here previously to set the tone and structure.

Somebody gives me a hand with 8 spades and 2 aces......Even I wont mess up that 10 for 200.

[JerryAU 1,714]

On 2/6/2023 at 5:15 PM, GreenTiger said:

The only realistic outcome I can see if Steele would have been hired is he would still be here producing average results. No thanks! 

Yep, and average will no longer cut it in this conference. 

[JerryAU 1,714]

On 2/6/2023 at 6:19 PM, NWALA Tiger said:

Steele is like most other coaches.  Give him good players he will produce results. His productivity tailed off when Brown and Davidson left

Gus owe's him part that that +$20MM buyout though, because Steele saved Gus' arse many many times and salvaged crappy seasons with his defense. 

[ScotsAU 1,344]

On 2/6/2023 at 12:05 PM, Win4AU said:

If Auburn had hired Steele instead of Harsin? 
 

Recruiting - I gotta believe Steele would have been far superior in this field which isn’t saying much.

Record - no way to say for sure.  2021 could have gone the same way.  2022 probably would have been a little better with actual recruiting and transfers.

Even if things had turned out the same and Freeze came in this year to take over you’d more than likely be looking at a stronger roster.  
 

I guess in the end it was also important for Auburn to fall on its face to make a lot of the necessary changes that needed to be made through the whole organization.

I don’t think the result would’ve been all that different. Steele also wanted to hire Bobo as OC. He also wasn’t much of a “dazzle the media” type of a coach, and didn’t really seem like the right culture fit for an Auburn head coach. I don’t think the bottom would’ve fallen out as quickly as it did for Harsin, but I think we would’ve trended that direction. Stale boring offense. Bland recruiting, especially offensively. It may have actually been worse. 3-4 years of slow program regression instead of a fast 2. And who knows what coaches would’ve been available the year he got fired.  At least Harsin didn’t last long, and we dropped him in a year with a lot of decent coaches looking to make a move. 

[AURex 2,098]

His track record as a head coach ... um ... not good. His acceptance among PTB ... um ... not good. His popularity among AU donors and fans ... um ... not good.

Why are e even discussing this? The guy is gone. All this hypothetical blubbering is completely irrelevant to Auburn football. Let's deep dive this and move on to more relevant topics.